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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

NSDL/NSTA Web Seminar:

Project BudBurst: Getting Students Involved in Climate Change Research

Today’s NSDL Experts

Dr. Kay Havens Director, Plant Science at Chicago Botanic Garden Co-Manager of Project BudBurst Chicago, IL

Dr. Sandra Henderson Director, Project BudBurst Director of UCAR Professional Development Boulder, CO

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Lowell Cemetery, Massachusetts5/30/18685/30/1868 5/30/20055/30/2005

What similarities & differences can you find in these two photographs? Write your responses in the chat.

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Understanding Nature’s Calendar

Phenology is the science that measures the timing of life cycle events in all organisms

Not to be confused with Phrenology, the study of bumps on heads!

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Brief History of Phenology The Japanese have been recording the timing of Cherry Blossoms since 900AD

Grape harvest dates in Switzerland have been recorded by wine makers since 1480 AD

Thomas Jefferson referred to the progression of blooms in his garden as “acts in a play”

There are also numerous ‘shoebox’ naturalists whose data may prove extremely valuable

Henry David Thoreau and Aldo Leopold kept extensive phenological records that are being used today

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Phenology Today• There is a recent

resurgence of interest in phenology due to global climate change

• Remote sensing using satellites is a new way to provide “green-up” data with global coverage, as are automated webcams.

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Which of the following could be problems with remote sensing via satellites?

A. Short history of the data set

B. Cloud cover interference

C. The need for ground truthing

D. All of the above

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Plants provide an excellent context to understand changes in the environment

They are extremely sensitive to:

• temperature change• precipitation change• growing degree days

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The planet is warming faster than any time in the last 10,000 yearsCO2 and other greenhouse gases are at their highest level in 400,000 years

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During the 20th century, Earth’s average temperature rose 0.6°C.

Some effects:– Arctic warming twice as fast– Melting snow and ice

– Changing extreme weather events (droughts, heat waves, hurricanes)

– Sea level rise– Longer growing season– Changes in timing of phenological

events

IPCC (2007)

During the 21st century, models predict Earth’s average temperature will rise between 1.8 and 4.0° C.

Plant Responses to Climate Change

• Adaptation– Plants will cope,

adapt, migrate, or go extinct (locally or globally)

– People can conserve habitats, conduct ex situ work, assist migration, or accept extinction

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change!” Charles Darwin

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Even with modest change many plants are in trouble

The proportion of native US species that were entirely out of their climate envelopes as a function of the increase in temperature above mean annual temperature. Three methods were used to determine climate envelopes (A, B, C). From Morse, Kutner and Kartesz, 1995.

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Phenological mismatchesPhenological changes are particularly

troubling when mutualistic relationships are disrupted, such as when a plant is cued by temperature and an animal by daylength.

For example, the English oak blooms two weeks earlier and moth larvae hatch two weeks earlier to feed on the leaves. The pied flycatcher used to arrive when the larvae hatched to feed on them. Now the larvae population is dwindling when the birds arrive and the bird population is declining as a result.

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How has flowering changedwhere you live?

Stamp on the graph:

Earlier LaterNo Change

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About half of the US has warmed one hardiness zone based on the last 15 years of weather data

Seasonal Changes in Plants

1 2

3 4

Volunteers– How do plants signal seasonal change for you?

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Phenology Today

National networks like NEON, USA-NPN, and, of course, Project BudBurst are actively collecting and analyzing phenological data. Your data can help!

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Let’s pause for questions from the audience….

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Almost 5000 registered locations

Over 10,000 observations

50 states

Participant locations across the country

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Increase awareness of phenology as an area of scientific study

Increase awareness of the impacts of changing climates on plants and the environment, and

Increase science understanding and appreciation by engaging participants in the scientific process.

Educational Goals of Project BudBurst

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Steps to participate in Project BudBurst

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Step 1: Pick A Plant

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Step 2: Get Your Plant’s Lat & Long

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14 phenophases of interest

• Flower (first, full, end)

• Leaf (first, full, color change, withered, drop)

• Pollen (first, full, end)

• Fruit (first ripe)

Don’t let our name fool you! We are interested in phenophases throughout the year – Project BudBurst is not just for springtime

Photo courtesy Mark Schwartz

Step 3: Determine the Phenophases

Step 4: Begin Observations Identification Guides and Phenophase Field Guides

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Step 5: Report Observations Online

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• Comparison with existing and historical phenological data sets

• Comparisons with existing climate data

• “My BudBurst” allows personal archived data over time

• Our data is available to educators, students, and scientists

How can Project BudBurst Data be used to better understand climate change?

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Project BudBurst in the Classroom

• Provides students with opportunity to contribute to a better understanding of climate change

• No special equipment orinstruments needed to participate

• Open to everyone

K-12 Formal and Informal educators and their students are a key audience for Project BudBurst

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Selected classroom activities overviews

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Project BudBurst in the Classroom

Standards aligned Classroom Activities at 3 grade bands

Teacher Implementation Guide

Live mapping

Scientist’s Blog

Which of our educational resources are you interested in? Stamp your answers:

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Coming Soon: Mobile phone technology for citizen science

UCLA Center for Embedded Network Sensing is developing software for mobile-to-web portal system using Project BudBurst database

Features • mobile phones used to capture and upload data in the field• data automatically geotagged• photo uploads will help with quality control of data being reported• real time feedback• Web 2.0 social networking

Conceptual image for illustrative purposes only

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Coming Soon: BudBurst Buddies

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Managed by

• University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

• Chicago Botanic Garden

In Collaboration and Partnership

• National Phenology Network

• National Ecological Observatory Network

• Windows to the Universe

•UC LA – Center for Embedded Network Sensors

• Oak Ridge National Laboratory

• Windows to the Universe

With Funding from • US BLM• NEON • USGS• USDA Forest Service• US Fish and Wildlife• National Geographic Society• NASA• NSF

Project BudBurst exists due to the support from funders, partners, and collaborators

Dr. Kay Havenskhavens@chicagobotanic.org

Dr. Sandra Hendersonsandrah@ucar.edu

THANK YOU!

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Learn about new tools and resources, discuss issues related to science education, find out about ways to enhance your teaching at: http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/learningdigitalK12

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Resources from this web seminar are listed at:

http://www.diigo.com/list/nsdlworkshops/web-seminar-budburst

http://learningcenter.nsta.org

http://www.elluminate.com

National Science Teachers AssociationDr. Francis Q. Eberle, Executive Director

Zipporah Miller, Associate Executive Director Conferences and Programs

Al Byers, Assistant Executive Director e-Learning

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NSTA Web SeminarsPaul Tingler, Director

Jeff Layman, Technical Coordinator